Accessibility
Links have readable text
a11y.link-name
Why this matters
A screen reader announces these as just "link", with nothing to say where they go. Icon-only links, such as social media buttons, are the usual cause.
Who fixes it
You can, usually
Roughly how long
Minutes
Care needed
Low risk to change
How to fix it
Add visible text, or an aria-label describing the destination — aria-label="Follow us on Facebook" rather than an unlabelled icon.
On your platform
WordPress
Almost always the social icons in the header or footer. In a block theme the Social Icons block takes a label per link; in a classic theme it is the menu or a widget, and the theme prints the icon from the link's title. Adding link text and hiding it with the theme's screen-reader-text class is the usual pattern.
Shopify
The social links in the footer, set under Online Store → Themes → Customize. Most themes generate an accessible name from the network, so a bare icon link usually means a custom section or an app block.
Drupal
Menu links carry a title, and icon-only links in a template need an explicit `aria-label` or visually hidden text — Drupal core ships a `visually-hidden` class for exactly this.
Joomla
Usually a module: the social icons module or a custom HTML module in the footer. Edit the module's HTML and add text inside the link, or an aria-label on it.
How we score it
Failing this check takes up to 10 points off your accessibility score. It is a fact about your site rather than a measurement, so it reads the same on every scan until you change something.
Does your site pass this one?
This check runs on every scan, along with the other 106. Free, no account, and you see the evidence for each result.
Check my siteOther accessibility checks
- Accessibility check completedThe accessibility pass runs inside a real browser, and a few things can stop it: a content security policy that blocks our script, or a page that never finishes loading. When that happens the accessibility section is marked unchecked rather than passed, because finding no problems and being unable to look are not the same result.
- Buttons have readable labelsA button with no readable label is announced to a screen reader as nothing more than 'button'. This usually happens when the button contains only an icon. If the unlabelled one is a menu toggle or an Add to Basket, the site becomes unusable rather than merely awkward.
- Form fields are labelledA form field without a label gives a screen reader user no indication of what to type into it. Placeholder text is not a substitute — it vanishes the moment somebody starts typing. On a contact or checkout form this is the difference between an enquiry and a visitor who leaves.
- Headings run in orderScreen reader users navigate by jumping between headings. When levels are skipped, that outline stops matching the page and becomes confusing to move through.
- Images have descriptions for screen readersSomeone using a screen reader hears nothing where these images are. If any of them are product photos, logos or buttons, that part of the page simply does not exist for them.
- Page declares its languageScreen readers pick their pronunciation from this. Without it, English can be read aloud with the wrong accent and rhythm, which is hard to follow.